Descriptive Summary

Arrangement

Access Points

Series I. Correspondence, 1916-1942

Scope and Content:

This series is arranged chronologically and includes incoming, copies of outgoing, and internal ADS correspondence (among board members, officers, and members). Also included are letters to and from Charles Stewart Davison that do not deal directly with ADS.

In general, attachments were kept with their respective correspondence. However, original ADS organizational material attached to letters, such as meeting minutes, resolutions, and financial reports, was removed to Series II, and a preservation photocopy was filed in its place. Newspaper clippings were also copied, and removed to Series IV.

Letters from 1916 to 1917 deal with World War I, ADS meetings and internal society matters, and politics. There are also numerous responses to ADS's "ten proposals" from business leagues, leaders, retail associations and chambers of commerce around the country.

Topics in correspondence from 1918 include the case of Thomas Mooney (the labor activist accused of bombing a patriotic march), the I.W.W., 'subversive' meetings, conditions in the U.S. Army (sickness, pay), William Randolph Hearst (his disloyalty), the ADS campaign/boycott against German goods and the teaching of German in schools, German atrocities, the impending post-war settlement with Germany ("unconditional surrender"), the situation in Russia, sedition and disloyalty, and immigration restriction. Internal correspondence discusses ADS proposals and operational matters including events, aims, salaries, campaigns, finances, and the women's committee. Also included are correspondence from the DC bureau of ADS, correspondence with artist Edwin Howland Blashfield regarding his stamp design for the society, and letters from members of congress. One set of correspondence with the Auburn Bureau, filed together in a report, deals with an ADS editorial and a threat of libel suit.

Topics from 1919 include the post-war future of ADS, the death of Theodore Roosevelt, the Citizens Committee of Welcome for U.S. soldiers, immigration restriction, labor, socialism, Bolshevism, and William Randolph Hearst.

1920 correspondence discusses the future of ADS and its financial troubles, Bolshevism, subversive behavior, immigration, labor strikes, the situation in Ireland, internal ADS matters such as meetings, finances, and campaigns i.e. Roosevelt portraits, lawsuits, the distribution of "Protocols and World Revolution," and personal matters of staff members. Numerous letters from members concern the 1920 presidential election and the society's support of candidate Warren G. Harding.

Topics in correspondence from 1921-1928 include the Mooney case, socialism in American colleges and student radicals, post-war Germany, Sinn Fein, Bolshevism, the AFL and unions, 'red and pink organizations,' the 1922 Herrin massacre, the "Protocols," Hearst, world politics, immigration and labor, the 'youth movement,' the Soviet Union and communism, race and crime, aviation, the ACLU, Judaism, Catholicism, and the presidential candidacy of Al Smith. Immigration restriction is a prominent topic of discussion from 1923-1928. Letters also deal with internal ADS matters including the street speaking campaign, the society's debt and financial difficulties, and libel suits against ADS.

Correspondence from 1929 to 1934 concerns ADS debt and finances, distribution of anti-communist pamphlets, the Socialist party, and Davison's legal matters.

Topics from 1935 to 1942 include the revival and reorganization of ADS, the society's debt and first meetings, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, immigration, FDR's putative Jewish lineage, congressional bills, Judaism and Jews, the 1936 and 1940 elections, the 1937 Supreme Court controversy, communism, foreign affairs, Soviet matters, the US government, religion, financial theories and banking, the House Un-American Activities Committee, US involvement in the WW II, strikes, grand juries, and national defense. Much of the material for these years is Charles Stewart Davison's letters to editors and senators about world politics or correspondence of Davison that does not deal directly with ADS.

Series II. Organizational Material, 1917-1941

Scope and Content:

This series contains material that documents the daily operations of ADS including board and committee meeting minutes, schedules, programs, and notices; resolutions, proposals, editorials, press releases (often multiple drafts of); committee member and candidate lists; reports from outside sources on various topics; "operators reports" (purportedly inside information on subversive activities, personages and meetings); legal material; financial material (statements, receipts, reports); notes; memos; phone messages; calling and business cards, addresses, and photographs.

Organizational material is arranged chronologically. Financial material, phone message slips, calling and business cards, and address slips are filed separately. Attachments were kept with material, usually memorandums; newspaper clippings were photocopied and moved to Series IV.

Included in this series are three photographs of a woman, presumably an ADS Women's Committee member, soliciting signatures on a petition against the German press ([1918]). An additional photograph depicts what appears to be a mural of FDR and other individuals from the 1930s.

Series III. Printed Material, 1915-1942

Scope and Content:

This series contains printed material, including printed items not clearly attached to correspondence.

Subseries 1. Printed Material: ADS, 1916-1942

Scope and Content:

Contains printed material of ADS such as annual reports/programs, circulars, pamphlets, mailings, handbooks, booklets, press releases, newsletters, programs, ephemera, ads for publications, and one poster. Topics include WW I (German war crimes, Turkey, peace terms, disease in the army), alien socialism, Russia, Bolshevism, immigration, sedition, communism, the ACLU, labor, 'Americanism.' ADS annual reports include detailed lists of material distributed each year.

Included in this series are copies of the ADS Handbook and "The American Defense Society: History, Purpose and Accomplishments" (both 1918).

Ephemera includes tickets, invites, notices, and programs for ADS meetings and dinners; also advertisements for ADS publications.

Subseries 2. Printed Material: Outside Sources

Scope and Content:

This subseries contains newsletters, printed speeches, pamphlets, reprints, poetry, publications, lectures, leaflets, ephemera and posters from a variety of individuals and organizations. Also included are copies of various periodicals. While the majority of this material shares a similar viewpoint with ADS, the society also acquired publications of groups it opposed, i.e. the Communist Party, and anarchists.

Printed material from 1915-18 deals with World War I, the post-war settlement with Germany, Bolshevism, Russia, and the Thomas Mooney case. Material from 1919 to 1923 concerns Bolshevism, Russia, Germany, crime, communism, labor unions, the I.W.W., Ireland, congressional bills, Henry Ford and Judaism, the Herrin massacre, and immigration. Included are copies of Soviet Russia, "The Woman Patriot," The Rebel Worker, The Gentile Tribune, and the Liberator.

From 1924 to 1929, topics include crime and criminology, congressional bills, eugenics, fascism, communism in Mexico, socialism, Soviet Union, Bolshevism, religion, and politics (LaFollette, Al Smith). Periodicals include numerous copies of the Congressional Record, The American Standard, and newsletters from the Better America Federation of California.

Material from 1930 to 1942 concerns Soviet Union/Soviet recognition, communism, Judaism, the New Deal, FDR, banking, investments, the economy, Mexico, socialism, elections, the Supreme Court, traffic accidents, immigration, Japan, world events and the war in Europe, and democracy. Periodicals include The Patriot, The Awakener, Moscow News, Free Press, The Fellowship Forum, National Republic, and the "Kiplinger Washington Letter." There are numerous newsletters from Robert Edmondson regarding Judaism, Jews in the US, Bolshevism, and a libel case against him (1934-1937), with titles such as "Capitalist-Jews Backing Communists?".

Also included in this subseries are several posters, most regarding labor, and sedition. Ephemera includes programs, invitations, and tickets for various organizations' events; also advertisements for publications.

Series IV. Newspaper Clippings, 1917-1938, undated

Scope and Content:

This series contains mostly newspaper clippings collected by ADS. Clippings concern topics of interest to the society, as well as ADS activities. Also included in this series are a few complete editions of daily newspapers.

Clippings are arranged by year. Those that were previously attached to correspondence or memorandums are filed separately. Please note that many of these clippings are brittle.